The Investigation into the Survival of Eric Kirby
by vinny2
Summary: Eric Kirby survived Isla Sorna alone for two months. One year later, Casey Innes isn't so sure that the young Mr. Kirby was alone after all. Casey decided to prove his point by venturing to the island himself, but what he finds will shock even him.
1. The Beginning

Chapter 1: The Beginning

"Investigation log," Casey Innes said into the tape recorder in his left hand as he attempted to grasp the steering wheel with his right. Casey was slowly leaning into the next lane, but he was too intent on his tape recorder to pay attention. "The date is May 20, 2003. It's been almost a year since the infamous Jurassic Park incident and almost seven since the incident in San Diego."

Repeated honking for cars behind his caused Casey to lower the tape recorder for a few second and regain control of his car. Once he was centered he returned to the tape recorder and ignored the road. "Ten years ago, I company known as InGen invited three scientists to Isla Nublar named Alan Grant, Elizabeth Sattler, and Ian Malcolm as scientific liaisons. After a number of miscalculations, the park was overrun by genetically altered dinosaurs, which left much of the crew deceased."

Another car screeched right passed Casey. He hadn't realized that he ran run a red light. Casey brushed it off and continued to drive and record. "Since then, Elizabeth married an employee of the State Department named Mark Degler and had two children named Charles and Hannah. Ian Malcolm continued to push his ideals of Chaos Theory and went to another InGen-owned island named Isla Sorna in order to document the dinosaurs before John Hammond's, the CEO of InGen during the first incident, nephew Peter Ludlow transferred the dinosaurs to San Diego. This incident is known as the San Diego incident, in which Ludlow was killed. John Hammond himself died the next year due to complications of lung cancer."

Finally, Casey began to slow his car down and turn into a parking lot. Still, his reckless driving continued. Other cars exiting the parking lot swerved out of his way as he drove. "All surviving InGen employees have cut all ties with the company since the incident. Henry Wu acquired a new job in genetics working for the CDC to find a cure for cancer and Gerald Harding became the head veterinarian at the Sea World in Orlando."

Casey finally parked his car illegally in the handicapped space. Sighs of relief could be heard from miles away. Casey stepped out of his car and approached the large building in front of him, still talking into his tape recorder. "Finally, Dr. Alan Grant returned to his job as an archeologist until only one year ago. While worked at the dig site in Fort Peck Lake, Montana, Alan Grant and his assistant William Brennan were approached by Paul Kirby and his ex-wife Amanda Kirby, who offered them one-million dollars to accompany them on an aerial tour over Isla Sorna, where Ian Malcolm had been on only four years prior."

Casey entered the building and for once, said something that wasn't being recorded. He approached the receptionist and asked, "Is Mr. Mason in today?"

"He should be," she replied.

Casey nodded and resumed his walk-and-talk. "In reality, Paul Kirby and Amanda Kirby weren't millionaires, and had hired Alan Grant and William Brennan along with three mercenaries named Cooper Tripp, Miles Brian Nash, and Warren Udesky in order to find their son Eric, who had disappeared on the island two months prior. Miraculously, Eric Kirby was found alive and well and the United States Marines rescued the group, minus the three mercenaries."

Casey entered the elevator and pressed for the 23rd floor. The building didn't have a 13th floor, as the original owner was extremely superstitious. "The story may seem straight-forward, but there is one glaring flaw in the web of lies created by InGen. There is no way that a twelve-year-old child whose only experience living on a deserted island was portraying the starring role in the Gerald R. Molen Middle School production of Treasure Island."

Casey finally turned the tape recorder off and stepped out of the elevator and into a hallway. Casey fixed the collar on his jacket and entered a room with the nameplate that read: Dr. Brian Mason. "Casey," said the suited man at his desk. He was busy on the phone. "I'm going to have to call you back, honey. Casey Innes just came in."

Brian hung up the phone and approached Casey. "Are you still going to go through with this?" he asked. Brian was clearly hoping for a "no" answer, but he knew he wasn't going to get it.

"Yes, I am," Casey answered happily. "My research proves it. There is no way the Eric Kirby survived on his own on Isla Sorna for two whole months and I am going to prove it."

"You're only eighteen," Brian continued to badger. "Your research could be, and is very likely to be, wrong. I actually got a call from the Kirby's lawyer. He's issued a restraining order against both you and your associate. That Bonner-Davis girl. They've also threatened a lawsuit if you didn't stop this frivolous investigation."

"It's not frivolous," Casey explained. "The Kirby's are lying and I believe it's time for the truth to be revealed." Brian decided not to continue to try and stop Casey. His mind was made up. "The helicopter is waiting for you." Casey proceeded to exit, but was stopped by Brian at the last second. "Take the limo," he suggested.

Casey took the elevator back down, but ignored the chauffer waiting for him at the front and calmly entered his own car. Casey wasn't about to put his full attention on the road and pulled his tape recorder back out. "My name is Casey Innes. I am currently on my way to a helipad right outside of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where I will meet up with an associate of mine by the name of Lizzie Bonner-Davis before boarding a helicopter on loan to me by Oklahoma senator Brian Mason headed for Isla Sorna. I will prove once and for all that Eric Kirby had assistance in his survival on the island."

Casey's sporadic driving finally came to an end as he arrived at the helipad. Casey stepped out and pocked the tape recorder before pulling a backpack out of the truck. He strapped the strap along his chest and proceeded to climb up to the helicopter. Standing along side it was young woman no older than he was. Her shirt was fairly revealing and her hair was mid-length and jet-black.

"Lizzie," Casey said as he approached her. "I trust you brought everything I need?"

"Of course," Lizzie replied. Lizzie reveled a briefcase from behind her and pulled out several manila folders. "I have information on everyone who was on Isla Sorna almost one year ago from Cooper to Grant. But of course, the biggest folder belongs to Eric Kirby. Oh! One more thing." Lizzie pulled out two headphones from her pocket. "I've tested them. They work no matter where we are. We can keep in touch."

"If you're not with your husband," Casey shot back in his usual sense of dry humor.

"Is it my fault that I'm married?"

"In high school."

"Never mind that," Lizzie insisted. For the next two months, I am completely devoted to you and the mission. From now on, it's all Eric Kirby."

"Glad to see you're on board, because you're not even close from done. I've just been informed that the Kirby's have placed a restraining order on us, so your job has just become that much harder, but I need you to get as much information from here as you can."

"Investigative reporter Lizzie Bonner-David is on the case!" Casey smiled before boarding the helicopter. The pilot wasted no time in taking the helicopter up. Lizzie waved good-bye, but Casey only stared ahead as the helicopter turned around and flew toward Isla Sorna.


	2. The Real Adventure Begins

Chapter 2: The Real Adventure Begins

The light sky was quickly fading away over the Caribbean Sea. Casey was only minutes away from his landing site, and was perusing through the files of everyone who was on the island that day. Casey really didn't care about it.

He didn't care that Nash was a former army sergeant. He didn't care that Udesky was married. He didn't care that Cooper had previously been arrested for a felony and was not legally allowed to carry a gun. None of that mattered. The only folder that mattered to him was that of Eric Kirby's.

Lizzie had made sure that she piled so much information regarding Eric Kirby that it would take Casey the entire two months to read it all. Casey knew much of it already, but decided to read it again, just to get a feel of the real Eric Kirby.

Casey read: "Eric Roger Kirby was born to Paul and Amanda Kirby on June 23, 1988 at St. Virgil's hospital at 3:42 P.M. Eric was enrolled in David Koepp Elementary School in Enid, Oklahoma and attended Gerald R. Molen Middle School afterwards. Eric Kirby is currently in the ninth grade attending John Williams High School." Casey stopped reading. None if that information was going to help him in his investigation.

His earphone suddenly sounded with static before clearing up. Lizzie was on the other end. "Have you landed yet? Of course you haven't landed yet. You only just left. I think. I not really keen on the whole time zone thing."

"I haven't landed yet," Casey explained. "I should be landing within the hour, though."

"Great," Lizzie replied. Her voice projected as if she didn't listen to a word Casey had said, which was very probable. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know who sang Achy Breaky Heat, would you? It's thirteen letters."

"Are you doing a crossword puzzle Lizzie?" Casey asked, annoyed. Casey gave out a low growl before replying, "Billy Ray Cyrus. I thought you were going to Enid."

"I am," Lizzie said, followed by a short pause, "tomorrow." Casey groaned again. "Oh, come on. You don't expect me to go today, do you? It's almost eight o'clock over here. It's an hour drive to Enid, so I won't be able to do anything today. I'll head out first thing in the morning. One more thing. Who wrote Catcher in the Rye?"

Casey shut the headphone off as Isla Sorna came into view. Casey unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over next to the pilot. "Make sure to drop me off exactly were Eric Kirby and Benjamin Hildebrand landed." The pilot nodded. Casey was only minutes away from touching down.

Lizzie was, meanwhile, sitting all alone in her one-bedroom apartment. With no one to help her on her crossword puzzle, she was soon back to channel surfing. Her husband worked the night shift at the 7-11, so she was going to be alone all night.

There was nothing good to watch on TV. Lizzie thought springing for satellite would be an improvement, but was very much mistaken. Lizzie decided to turn in early, but chose to check her e-mail before going to sleep. Lizzie was painfully behind her time, as she still had to wait for dial-up. Finally, Lizzie was on-line.

Lizzie logged in. She still had two unread e-mails. "Since when do I get any mail?" Lizzie asked herself. Lizzie read the titles. The first one was from Larry Rogow, the Kirby family's lawyer. Lizzie knew it was just restraining order information and chose not to read it.

Lizzie checked the second one, but it didn't have a title. It only said it was sent from Lizzie enthusiastically opened it.

Dear Mrs. Bonner-Davis:

As I understand it, you and Casey Innes have been actively investigating the disappearance, survival, and discovery of Eric Kirby on one of the InGen islands known as Isla Sorna. At first, I took it as a simple hobby. Unfortunately for both you and I, you friend Casey has ventured to the island himself to find out the truth. Now, unlike the Kirby's lawyer, I won't threaten you with a lawsuit. I'll threaten you with fear. Unless this investigation is brought to a screeching halt as soon as possible, I will make sure that it stops myself.

The helicopter closed in on the landing site. Casey kept a close eye on where the helicopter was landing, just to make sure anything he could use for both video and audio evidence was damaged in the landing.

The helicopter was just about to touch down as Casey grabbed the info folders and hopped out of the helicopter. Regardless, the helicopter touched down and slowly whirred off. Casey ignored it and took a video camera out from his backpack.

Casey slipped the backpack back on and attacked the audio recorder to the side of the camera. Casey switched the camera on and pointed it towards the helicopter. "For court reasons, I will explain my situation. My name is Casey Innes. Except for this helicopter pilot who will be leaving now, I am all alone on the island, just as Eric Kirby was supposedly."

The pilot missed his cue to go ahead and leave so Casey continued his investigation. "According to Eric Kirby's accounts, this was approximately where he and Benjamin Hildebrand landed following their crash landing on the island. Both Alan Grant and William Brennan support that claim by saying they retrieved a parasail-"

"Hey!" the pilot called. "Can I go now?"

"You shouldn't yell," Casey explained. "Documents prove that Alan Grant was very adamant in that point." Casey decided not to answer his question and continued his investigation. "Of course, I'll be taking everything that Eric Kirby and the search party said with a grain of salt and will be checking for proof myself."

Casey's investigation was interrupted. The pilot had finally decided to take off. Casey waited patiently for the wind to stop blow and for the helicopter to leave the view so he could resume his investigation.

Casey watched as the helicopter disappeared behind the trees and into the oncoming darkness. "Night is setting in," Casey explained. "As I'm sure Eric Kirby did as soon as he landed, he began a search for shelter. Statements say that he was found in a truck about two miles north of here. Chances are Eric didn't walk two miles for that shelter, and so he must have had another shelter in the meanwhile."

Casey panned the camera around his surroundings, but found nothing important enough to videotape. He began to walk forward and try and find somewhere to bunk for the night. Five minute passed. The scenery was almost exactly as it was five minutes prior. Casey was getting nowhere.

Casey put the camera away and grabbed onto a nearby branch. He wasn't Spiderman by any stretch, so he was defiantly going to have trouble trying to climb such a flimsy tree. "It would appear InGen didn't cut any corners when it came to authenticity. These trees are worthless."

Still, Casey tried to climb it. Casey jumped and grabbed onto another ledge. At the same instance, something dashed right over where his leg was dangling. Casey immediately let go of the branch. He struggled to pull out his flashlight, but by the time he did, whatever was under him was long gone.

Casey slowly put the flashlight away as another sound came from behind him. Again, it was gone before Casey could react. Casey put the camera away and gave up on climbing the tree. He returned to trying to find a path. He was soon approached with slight fear combine with oncoming hunger and nighttime.

He took a deep breath as he stepped through the trees. Finally, he was overlooking the night sky as it blanketed a field of resting stegosaurs and triceratops. "Yeah," Casey complained. "It's okay for them, but it's freezing out here!" Casey got some footing at the edge of the cliff and slowly slid down to the open field.

Casey immediately began to film his surroundings. "Now, I'm not Steve Irwin. I'm not here to bore you with information about these dinosaurs. What I am here to tell you is that Eric Kirby was fairly proficient in dinosaur knowledge, so he would know that stegosaurs and triceratops were herbivorous and common prey of large carnivores. He would have figured that if they felt it safe here, so would he. I'll be setting up camp here and continue my investigation in the morning."

Casey shut the camera off and ran over to the group of stegosaurs. They weren't all asleep. "Scratch that," Casey said as he turned the camera back on. "I suppose nowhere is safe from large carnivores on a five-mile island. Someone has to sleep with one eye open and I, for one, am glad it doesn't have to be me. As long as they don't perceive me as a threat, I should have a good night sleep." Casey shut the camera off and laid down in between the group of stegosaurs and slowly nodded off to sleep.


	3. New Developments

Chapter 3: New Developments

Morning came. The sun that shone of Isla Sorna was surprisingly more relaxing that the one in Oklahoma. Casey rubbed his eyes as he slowly began to wake up. Casey let out a long yawn before realizing the difference in scenery from the previous night. The stegosaurs and the triceratops were long gone.

Casey hopped up, pulled out the camera, and documented it. "The stegosaurs and the triceratops seem to have left well before morning. Apparently, even during nighttime, it's not safe to stay in one place. Prey will eventually find you. It can be assumed that Eric Kirby learned this lesson on his first night and from then on did not sleep in one place if it wasn't protected."

Casey shut the camera off and surveyed his surroundings. While the stegosaurs and triceratops may have left, they were replaced by a pack of pachysephalosaurs grazing in the field. Casey felt it wasn't note worthy and continued to drudge on in search of a good place to stay from the next night.

The early morning search wasn't going well. Regardless of the light, it still seemed that he was going in circles. Casey opted not to try and climb the tree again and hoped to find somewhere to relax. Casey clicked his headphone on in hopes that Lizzie was awake. "Lizzie," he said. "Lizzie!"

Slowly but surely, a response came back. "Is it morning already?"

"Yes it is," Casey replied monotonly. "Just called to check if you've arrived in Enid yet, but I guess I don't have to ask as it is obvious you're still at home."

"I'll head out within the hour," she insisted, "It's just that I received an e-mail threatening me if I didn't stop the investigation. At first it thought it was just Rogow using a different e-mail address, but I couldn't trace it back. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure I could find out who they are."

Casey hesitated before saying. "Just be careful."

"I always am!" Lizzie cut the feed off, leaving Casey to return to his search for shelter.

Lizzie took the next hour to get ready for her trip to Enid. Her husband wasn't coming back from his night shift job for another hour, so he would have to be kept out of the loop in this one. Lizzie grabbed her own video camera and made her descent down the stairs and into her car.

Lizzie put the key in the ignition, but hesitated turning it on. Across in the parking lot, there was someone standing next to a car. Lizzie saw him over the banister about to get into her car ten minutes ago. The fact that was still there meant he was waiting for something.

The man continued to stare over at her car until Lizzie's paranoia took the best of her. Lizzie exited her car and began to walk fast, trying to seem suspicious as she exited the parking lot on foot. At first, Lizzie felt she was safe. The man hadn't followed her. Unfortunately, that assumption was wrong. The same man was following her on the other side of the street, stopping every time Lizzie would peek over to him.

Lizzie's paranoia had almost taken over her. She began to walk faster and the man followed suit. At that point, paranoia had taken over completely. Lizzie instinctly began to run and the man instantly crossed the street and began to follow.

Lizzie did everything in her power to lose him, but he continued to follow. N matter what barrier Lizzie pushed in her way, the man continued to follow. Lizzie turned the corner into a hotdog stand. Lizzie pushed it down the road, hitting the man dead on.

Lizzie turned another corner and finally felt safe. She peered back to see that the man was nowhere to be found. She took a sigh of relief before turning around the see the man right in front of her.

Lizzie was speechless, but the man sure wasn't. "I'm not your enemy," he began. "My name is Christopher Dolen. I'm one of the good guys."

Casey's morning was much less interesting that that of the vivacious Lizzie Bonner-Davis. Casey walked for what seemed like hours to him before finding some clue that there was ever any human life on the island.

Casey cut the camera back on. "An old discarded InGen jeep," he began. Casey moved closer to see that the gas tank was empty. "My guess is that in the chaos that ensued due to the incident on Isla Nublar, some of the dinosaurs got loose here too. It would appear someone tried to make a break for it in this jeep only to wind up stranded in the middle of nowhere."

Casey's soliloquy was cut short as something in the trees caught his eyes. Casey move forward until tripping over a log and landing right over a skeleton. Casey was too shocked to scream. After regaining composure, Casey stood back up and returned to the camera. "It looks like whoever took the jeep wasn't so lucky in his escape."

Casey returned to the jeep. There were now two compies jumping up and down inside. "Compies are group hunters," Casey explained. "Two of them means that an entire group will be here momentarily, and I don't think they'll take to my intrusion too lightly. Moving on." Casey left the jeep behind and returned to his seemingly useless trek.

Another half an hour passed like years. Casey once again was getting nowhere. Another sign of former life seemed to graze his view, but Casey's excitement turned to anguish upon realizing what it was. "No way," he groaned. "The jeep? I am going in circles!" Casey calmed himself down. "Never mind. It's a different jeep. The other one had a parachute and a spare tire in the back."

Casey stopped and looked through the trees. Casey once again tripped over the log and landed on the exact same skeleton. Casey nonchalantly brushed himself off and returned to the jeep and cut the camera back on. "Anything could have scared of the compies, but not many things could have taken the parachute and the spare tire without damaging the jeep. As a matter of fact, the only creature that comes to mind is…a human."

Casey began to walk forward while simultaneously slowly spinning to make sure everything everywhere was captured by the camera. "Hello!" Casey yelled. "My named is Casey Innes! I'm here investigation the island. If you're still here, come on out. If you're a castaway, I can call a helicopter for you. If you an inhabitant, then I'd like to speak to you!" There was no answer. "Well, if anyone was here, there not here now."

Casey took a few more stepped and sat down on along to review the camera footage. He hoped that he caught something on camera he hadn't noticed before. At first, he seeing nothing and all he could hear was his own voice, which eh was really getting tired off. Casey checked again and this time noticed something. When Casey panned the camera over behind the jeep, a figure was briefly seen before jumping into the trees.

"Roughly five feet," Casey said to himself as he paused and zoomed. "What appeared to be hear and yes, yes, hands! Houston, we have humans."


	4. New Home

Chapter 4: New Home

Christopher took Lizzie to a nearby diner to try and explain everything. Lizzie wasn't exactly in the mood to listen, but she knew that she didn't have much of a choice. "I know you don't know me, but I know you," Christopher explained. "Both of us have been searching for the truth behind what happened to Eric Kirby the two months he was on Isla Sorna."

"Really?" Lizzie asked, not exactly believing anything Christopher was telling her. "Why'd it take you so long to pop up?"

"Because I didn't know of yet. Not until last night. I received an email. It said my life would be in danger if I continued to search. I managed to crack the security firewalls and find out from where the email was sent. When I got there, the building was empty, but I found the computer that was used. Your email was on the list and I traced it back to your apartment."

"Is any part of that true?" Lizzie asked. It all made sense, but Lizzie wasn't ready to accept it, partly because this was supposed to be her and Casey's story. No one else was supposed to hog the glory of uncovering the truth.

"All of it," Christopher insisted. "And I'm not planning on stopping and I can tell that neither are you."

"I can handle myself," Lizzie insisted. "If you're so good, then you must know that I'm heading to Enid. If you're any good you'll be heading there as well. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some survivors that haven't issued a restraining order on me to contact.

Lizzie left Christopher in the diner and crossed the street back to her car. Lizzie pulled out her cell phone and began to dial a number she had written down on a post-it on her dashboard. "National State Department. How can I direct your call?"

"Yes," Lizzie began as she put the key the ignition. "I'm calling for Mark Degler. Is he in right now?"

"Not yet," the receptionist replied. "Mr. Degler won't be in for another hour. Can you leave a message?"

"Just tell him to call me back at this number," Lizzie replied. "It's kind of important." Lizzie hung up the phone and began drive to Enid, Oklahoma.

Back on the island, Casey had begun a new search. His slowly increasing hunger was no longer a factor. The lack of shade and protection from large predators such as the tyrannosaurus and the Spinosaurus meant nothing to him. Casey had proof that he wasn't the only human on the island. That was his only priority.

"Hello?" Casey yelled. "My name is Casey Innes. I just want to talk." There was still no answer. Casey wasn't about to give up the seemingly the search. Another corner passed and a building grazed Casey's view. "If there were humans there, the InGen team led by Ludlow would have found them. They have to be hidden in the dense brush."

Casey ignored the building and continued on is way through the forest. Time continued to tick on forward. Casey wasn't wearing a watch, as Eric didn't during his stay on the island. Casey continued to trudge until the floor trembled. Casey stopped moving as the rumbles came closer.

Casey's heart began to race as he began to dash through the trees. Finally, Casey exited the dense group of trees into a large fiend only to find what was causing the movements. Casey pointed the camera to the T-rex, who was busy devouring the carcass of what appeared to be a pachysepholosaurus. It was clearly the slow one as the rest of its pack was escaping through the trees behind the rex.

"There you have it," Casey narrated. "The mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex. I, being Casey Innes, would know that I could easily leave the area while the T-rex enjoys his meal. Unfortunately, I'm not Casey Innes right now. I'm a scared little thirteen-year-old named Eric Kirby. And as Eric Kirby, I would assume he react before he thought, meaning he tried to run. Looks like it's time to find out if Eric Kirby could really outrun a T-Rex."

Casey put the camera away, took a deep breath, and began to run. It wasn't long before the rumbles of the T-Rex giving chase could be heard. Casey didn't dare to look back. He continued to run as the footsteps began to get closer. There was no doubt that the dinosaur was running faster than him. Casey tried to think of a plan, but nothing was coming to him. All there was were trees around him.

Casey's body was quickly failing him. He could almost feel the dinosaur breathe on the back of his neck. Casey covered his eyes before being whisked into the air, but to Casey's surprise, there was no pain involved. That was because the T-Rex ran right passed him. A rope tied to his arm pulled him up into a branch.

"Hey!" Casey yelled as he took out the camera. "Someone saved me! I demand for you to come out right now."

"Demand?" came a female voice from behind him. The voice had an accent that Casey couldn't quite put his finger on. He wanted to saw Russian, but that wasn't right. "Out of all the people I've rescued, you are defiantly the least grateful."

Casey turned around. In front of him was a woman, somewhere in early 20's. She was dressed in leftover InGen attire, clearly overused. "Am I to believe that you're the only one on the island, or are there others?"

The woman gave Casey a smile. "You are a funny man." Now the accent seemed more British with a German twist. "I suppose you're just one of those people who came to document the dinosaurs."

"Kind of."

"Come on," she ordered. "You have to come back with me."

Casey followed her off the tree and down a pathway. She led him through different paths, most of them impossible to see with the naked eye. Casey finally found out where they were as the pteradon birdcage grazed his view on the left side. She led him down the hill and through another almost invisible path.

A few more twists and turns ensued until they finally arrived at the village. The different "homes" were made from debris left over from the InGen buildings that no longer stood. Everyone was wearing leftover InGen uniforms.

"Guess what," she said as she entered the village. "I found one."

There was little commotion in the village. The only person that seemed to change his routine was a little boy, no older than eight He ran inside one of the houses and came out with chalk. He ran to the end, where there were eight chalkboards.

Each of them had different names at the top, but the both had the same two columns. All of them had "successful rescues" on the left and "unsuccessful rescues" on the right. The kid took the chalk and put another tally on the chalkboard on the far left, giving it a grand total of eleven. The name on the top read Seina.

"So," Seina began. "How long do you believe you'll be staying?"

"Two months exactly," Casey explained. "No one will miss me at least until then."

"Well then," Seina replied, "For the next two months, welcome to your new home."


	5. The Village

Chapter 5: The Village

Two hours passed. Lizzie was on the freeway only minutes from the exit that led to the city of Enid, Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Casey had maintained radio silence as he explored the village. Seina lad left him alone and didn't seem to want to return to him.

All the villagers were speaking in a different language, one that Casey was unfamiliar with. Casey was fluent in four languages and could passably understand numerous others. While the language he heard was foreign to him, he recognized the grammar scheme as being similar to Romance languages like Spanish and French.

Casey hadn't spoken to anyone in the two hours since Seina left his side. He silently watched the other villagers speak to one another. He matched similar sounding words to each other, realizing the similarities those words had to Romance verbs. Casey had figured out the most important part of the sentence and could then easily distinguish the subject from the predicate. Casey wrote down everything he learned in his notebook.

Night was coming again. Some of the villagers had already turned in, meaning that Casey's chances for leaning a new language would have to wait until the next morning. Casey turned his attention to the chalkboards at the end of the village. There were eight in total, but only two of them caught his attention. The ones to the left had no more that five tally in the successful rescues and had more than four times as many unsuccessful rescues. Only two chalkboards had numerous tallies in the success department. One was Seina's. The other belonged to someone named Sorskind.

Sorskind was beating Seina by two rescues. "It's not accurate," Seina voice came from behind Casey. "Sorskind is a cheater and a liar. Our policy is not to interfere with visitors if they are not in danger. Sorskind puts visitors in danger just to get more points."

"Smart man," Casey commended. "Whatever it takes to win."

"Even that?" Seina pointed out. Casey followed Seina's finger to the unsuccessful rescues column. There were more tallies than everyone else's board combined.

* * *

Lizzie pulled off the interstate. She had officially entered Enid, but because of her restraining order, she was barred from entering parts of the city, mainly the Kirby neighborhood and the West Gate Shopping Center.

Lizzie was running low on gas and pulled into a gas station. Lizzie was halfway through pumping before seeing a familiar face sitting n a nearby bench. "How'd you get here faster than me?"

"Not important," Christopher replied as he stood up. "What's important is that we are both on the same mission."

"Here the difference," Lizzie interrupted. "I don't know why you care, but I'm in it for the fame and fortune. Once the Kirbys are ridiculed by the public for keeping such a large secret, I'll be in the limelight. I'm talking Oprah. I know for a fact that you don't care about the fame because if you did, you wouldn't be here offering your assistance. This is to your some kind of revenge angle and I for one don't care and want to have nothing to do with it."

"You're losing a good opportunity," Christopher replied. "If I'm out for revenge against the Kirby's, I'll leave once I get it, which means you take all the credit, even for the things I did. I just need your connections to do it. And out of all fairness, the restraining order Larry Rogow threw on you means you need me just as much as I need you."

It seemed that Christopher was telling the truth. Getting the truth from the Kirby family without landing behind bars would need someone who could work under the radar. As long as Lizzie didn't have to share the fame with anyone besides Casey, it was a good deal.

"Fine," Lizzie finally accepted. "If you want to help so badly, I'll let you. First things first. We're going to the West Gate Shopping Center."

* * *

Casey had lost all interest in time. He was completely focused on learning a new language in record time, but it was much harder that normal. Everytime Casey believed he deciphered a word; someone else used it in a different context. Casey was beginning to believe that everyone was speaking a different language.

Seina seemed to be having the best time. It seemed that she was purposely using the same word or combination of words in a different context every other sentence. She was purposely ruining his chances at learning Sornian.

The chalkboards at the end of the villager called him again. He couldn't help stare at the difference between Seina and Sorskind's boards. Casey would give anything to talk with this Sorskind guy.

"Are you still on this?" Seina asked as he she came up behind him. "I told you to ignore it. Just be glad it was me who came to your rescue. If Sorskind found you, you'd be inside a Tyrannosaurus by now."

"Just one question," Casey replied. "About a year ago, a boy landed on the island. His name was Eric Kirby. I can only assume that someone from the village found him. I just want to know who rescued him."

"Me," Seina replied confidently. "Who else? As a matter of fact, his rescue went very similar to yours."

_Flashback_

_Seina calmly sat on the treetops of Isla Sorna. There hadn't been anyone on the island in weeks and she beginning to believe that people had forgotten about the island. Seina was a master of human behavior. She knew people couldn't resist a challenge. She was right._

_The sun was shining bright and there were very few clouds in the sky. Still, Seina was beginning to nod off. That was until a noise startled her back into reality. Not far off, a parasail was landing wildly into the trees. Seina didn't get a good look at who was on it or even if he were alive._

"_He came in way too fast," Seina told herself. "He must be injured. At the very least compies will find him." Seina sprung into action and began to cautiously approach the landing site. Just as Seina came around the corner, the sounds of footsteps came from behind her. Whoever landed was well enough to make it on foot._

_Seina hopped back in the tree until she found the unlucky parasailer. Just a boy, no older that 13. He was clearly frightened and had sense of direction. Seina knew the rule. She wouldn't interfere unless the kid was in mortal danger, and it wasn't long until he was._

_The kid knew nothing of his surrounding and continued to run randomly through the trees. Seina cautiously followed. He didn't show any signs of calming down as he randomly came through the trees and approached a Tyrannosaurus in the middle of feasting on his recent kill._

_The kid was frightened beyond belief and Seina readied herself for the rescue. The dinosaur and the kid stared sat each other for what seemed like forever until he finally split into the woods. The Tyrannosaurus stood, as if musing over the through of whether or not to chase. In the end, the dinosaur decided to give chase._

_The kid tried to outrun the overgrown lizard, but he was nowhere near as fast. He could feel the footsteps coming closer. He could feel the end coming near. He closed his eyes and opened them upon feeling pressure on his left wrist. It was the dinosaur clamping on to his arm. It was a rope from the trees. Seina pulled him up and the Tyrannosaurus continued to rampage through._

"_You saved me!" The kid was ecstatic. He couldn't contain his excitement._

"_Who are you?" Seina asked._

"_Eric," he finally managed to say as his heart rate rested, "Eric Kirby."_

_End flashback_

Seina stopped her story. It was the only thing Casey was actually listening to wholeheartedly. Casey spun around. He could se why Seina stopped her story. At the village entrance, someone knew entered the village. He was wearing the same InGen uniforms as everyone else. His hair was surprisingly well kept. The same little boy that put a tally in Seina's chalkboard when she came in the village with Casey stood up and went to the chalkboards. Just as Casey predicted, the boy put a tally in the unsuccessful column of Sorskind.

No one greeted him. He had a mile on his face, but no one shared his enthusiasm. Not even Casey knew why he was so happy. He just came back from failing to rescue someone, and yet he was blissfully unaware of the hatred spun at him from the rest of the village. It reminded Casey of himself back in high school. Most people believed he took his position on the school newspaper too harshly. He ruined lives with his articles and was offered full scholarships to Harvard, Yale, and Brown because of it.

"Finally he's back," Seina said with relief. "If you want to know more about Kirby, ask him."

"Why him?" Casey asked back. "Unless I misheard you, you're the one who rescued Eric Kirby."

"I did," she said, "but that's all I did. Sorskind was with them the entire time. I didn't bother to get in the middle of their conversation."

"Excuse me," Casey replied. "I think I'm having hearing problems because I could swear I heard you just say they. Unless my research is wrong, Eric Kirby was rescued alone."

"Are you sure?" Seina asked.

"Unless Alan Grant, Billy Brannan, and Eric's parents were sorely mistaken, Eric Kirby was rescued alone."

"You must have missed something," Seina explained. "Kirby was with someone. Ben Hildebrand."

"Yeah, I know. He died from his injured after landing."

"I think you need to check your research again," Seina explained. "Sorskind rescued him two hours after I rescued Kirby. He was here the entire two months with Kirby. He left the village to meet up with the rescue team. Hildebrand survived."


	6. Sorskind's Story

Chapter 6: Sorskind's Story

Sorskind's smile had not faded ever since returning to camp. He had acknowledged Casey's existence, but never once seemed to care about it. Casey closely watched the actions of the other villagers towards Sorskind. Everyone hated him. There were no exceptions. They're hatred was justified. Sorskind was responsible for the death of numerous people who have landed on the island, many of which may have been on the island accidentally. Still, Casey couldn't help but empathize with Sorskind.

Casey put away his notepad and casually took out his camera. He had completely forgotten he had it and had missed out on important things to film. Casey planned to keep it on at all times. "A camera?" Seina asked. "You don't mess around. You must be smart enough to realize that since our village is unknown to the outside world, it must mean that we ask all of our guests to remain silent abut our existence."

"Yes," Casey replied, only half listening. "My genius intellect has managed to notice that."

"That I am also to assume that you know that videotaping your stay here is useless as it would be in direct violation of that rule."

"I am also aware of that," Casey replied. Casey closed the camera and turned around until he faced Seina. "On the same note, I have also noticed that you allow Sorskind to continue living here and continue rescuing people, even though he really shouldn't. That has lead me to believe that no matter what I do and no matter how many glares I get, you won't kick me out. The village is full of weak souls. All except for Sorskind of course. He knows how things should work."

"You're right," Seina answered. "If you continue to do what you're doing, you will get glares and no one will talk to you, except for maybe Sorskind. I just want you to know, I'll be the first of many to cut off all communication with you."

Seina turned around and began to walk until a faint voice was heard. She walked back to hear Lizzie's voice coming from the headphone. "Lizzie," Casey said happily. "I came here to find out how Eric Kirby survived all that time on the island. I am happy to report I have found the answer. Seina visually asked Casey not to divulge anything, but Casey simply ignored her. "There's a village. About thirty people live on the island and protect people who windup on the island." Casey turned to see Seina storming off into one of the houses. He didn't care. "Anyways, one of the villagers confirmed that Eric Kirby stayed at the village for two months. What surprised me is that Benjamin Hildebrand also was a resident for the same two months. Now I know the autopsy reports say that died after landing, but Alan Grant's friend Ellie Sattler has a husband that works in the State Department. He has power to change the truth. I need you to verify."

"Can do," Lizzie replied," but there is another new development that you should now. I've got a partner. His name is Christopher Dolen. He's offering his assistance free of charge and is even offering me all the glory once he gets what he wants."

Casey deliberated his response. "Don't tell him anything. Use him how you see fit, just make sure he doesn't know more than you about the Kirbys.

* * *

Christopher waited in Lizzie's car for what seemed like and endless amount of time until she finally came back outside from the store at the gas station. She slid into the driver's seat, where Christopher gave her a disappointed look. "You didn't buy anything. You were in there for ten minute sand you didn't buy anything."

"I believe it's my decision on whether or not I buy anything or not," Lizzie replied. "Anyways, I've got some new intel. Ben Hildebrand survived. I'm working my connections in D.C. to see if Mark Degler changed any of the autopsy records for the Kirbys. Meanwhile, we have to get the Kirby's to admit anything that could hint towards the village."

"This intel," Christopher asked, "I assume you got it from Casey Innes. How did Casey find out about Ben Hildebrand if we don't even know about Ben Hildebrand? Where is Casey anyways?"

"That is also none of your business."

"A lot of things are surprisingly not my business," Christopher accused. "What's the worst thing that could happen if you share everything with me? Do you think I'm going to kill you and stuff you in my refrigerator?"

"I don't even know how to reply to that possibility," Lizzie said. She turned forward and put the car in drive, she turned out in the street and began to drive toward the West Side Shopping Center. "I go in first," Lizzie explained. "If any of the Kirby family happens to be there, I'll distract him or her while you sneak into the back room and find anything about the Kirby's we can use."

Christopher pretended that Lizzie didn't say anything as he closed his eyes and titled the seat back. Lizzie scoffed and maintained her focus on the road.

* * *

Casey Innes had finished all the study on the culture of the Sornians he could for the day. Most of them had already turned in for the night. Only a few of the older residents were still out, preparing food for the next day. Sorskind stood at the end of the village admiring his record on the blackboard, not that there was anything to admire.

Casey put his notepad away and picked up his camera again. He approached Sorskind, who could very well see Casey approaching, but did not even glace back at him. "Sorskind, right?" Casey asked.

"You came with Seina?" he asked. Unlike Seina's voice, Sorskind's voice was distinctive. He was clearly of British origin. "I find it interesting that someone who came with Seina would take timeout of their day to speak with me. Seina must have told you about me, correct."

"That's the exact reason why I'm here," Casey explained. "Seina tells me that about one year ago, you arrived with someone named Benjamin Hildebrand. Correct?" Now, Sorskind seemed interested in what Casey had to say. Casey continued. "As you probably do not know, Ben Hildebrand was found on the island dead. Siena tells me he was alive when he left here. I want to hear your version of the story, just to see if it matches up to what Seina said. I already know it won't match up to watch the evidence back in the Enid, Oklahoma's coroner's office says."

"Why do you care?"

"Why do you insists on putting visitors in danger?" Casey shot back. "Investigate for the same reason. Fame. Sorskind's name will never be lost on the people of this village, even for generations to come. I want the name Casey Innes to reach the same level of recognition all around the world, no mater who's day I ruin in the process."

Sorskind gave a little chuckled before turning back to his blackboard. He looked at his record for a few second before returning to his conversation with Casey. "I have nothing better to do. If you want to know Ben Hildebrand's story, I will tell you."

_Flashback_

_Sorskind yawned as he walked down the familiar path. Everyone in the village had their regular path to walk on. Sorskind generally did not follow his path because very few visitors came through there because of the large amounts of trees. Still, Sorskind decided not to avoid his route that day, as he was too tired to put any potential visitor in danger._

_Two hours had passed. Sorskind was ready to go back and sleep for the rest of the day, but he would rather be known as a killer rather than a loser. He continued to push himself forward until a voice woke him up. The voice was far, but very voice. The man was clearly in distress and was calling for anyone to help._

_Sorskind didn't want to help, but he knew he would miss a perfectly good opportunity to get another point against Seina. He followed the distressed voice until his screams were piercing. Sorskind could see the man tangled up in a tree still attached to his parasail._

"_Help!" he yelled. "Help! Anyone! I'm bleeding! I'm dying! Help! Help!"_

"_You'll die a lot faster if you don't shut up," Sorskind explained. The man was shocked to see another human on the island. "Just by looking at you, I can tell that you have at least two broken ribs. You left arm is also broken and you are most likely bleeding internally as well as externally. If you keep moving around like that, your broken ribs could very well cause more internal bleeding."_

_The man didn't reply,. But he did do everything Sorskind told him to do. "Now, with your right arm, I need you to slip out of your harness. Once your arm is out, you can untie the rope around you left arm. Brace yourself, because after that, you'll drop about fifteen feet down." The man obeyed, and managed to get himself out of the tree after five minutes._

"_Good. Now I can take you back to the village and get another point for me. He began to walk off until turning back to the man. "Oh, and before I forget, what's you name?"_

"_Ben," he replied shakily. "Ben Hildebrand."_

_End flashback_

"That is quite a story," Casey commended. "But I'm going to put my trust in the facts, and the fact tell me that you and Seina are lying. I just don't see how Ben Hildebrand could have been found in that tree by Alan Grant's rescue team if he left here at the same time as Eric Kirby."

"Believe what you choose," Sorskind replied. "But I can honestly say that I do not know how Ben Hildebrand died. I may not value the lives of others, but I do value my integrity. I am not lying."

Sorskind took his leave and entered another home. Casey looked around to see that he was the only one still standing outside. Seina came back out and waved him over. "That's the guest house over there just in case you were wondering," she said as she pointed to the last house in the village.

"Thank you," Casey replied. "And just to let you know, my investigation into the survival of Eric Kirby will not stop. On the contrary, the investigation into the possible murder of Benjamin Hildebrand has become a welcome addition in to my investigation."


	7. West Gate and the West Side

Chapter 7: West Gate and the West Bank

The West Gate Shopping Center was certainly nothing to behold and wholeheartedly not something one would want to write home to mom about. The parking lot was extremely small for the two-story shopping complex. Most people living in Enid knew that they had better deal waiting for them at Tyrone Mall and Monroe Shopping Town. Still, the West Gate shopping Center thrived on the small businesses and close-knit ties amongst the storeowners. The connection was the only thing that Lizzie Bonner-Davis feared upon entering the plexi-glass revolving doors. Christopher seemed fearless, even though he came in second.

Lizzie approached the directory while Christopher showed no signs of stopping. Lizzie gave him a disgruntled look. "Now you're going to tell me you know where it is?"

"Of course not, but I'd rather find it on my own merits than cheat using the directory," Christopher mocked. Lizzie didn't find the insult very funny as Christopher turned back around and approached the escalator. Lizzie defiantly chose to stay behind until quickly finding that Christopher was heading in the right direction. The two stopped walking once the yellow sign that read: "Kirby Paint and Tile Plus" was clearly in view.

"You know," Lizzie began, "I've been thinking. You jumped on the bandwagon fairly quickly when I agree to make the distraction. Why don't you make the distraction?"

Christopher became visually frustrated with Lizzie's suggestion. "I don't know how you work with Casey, but I don't randomly changes planned mid-stream. You are going to distract the clerk while I go behind her without being seen. Okay? Good. Go."

Lizzie rolled her eyes before entered in the small home improvement store. The only person on duty appeared to a cashier, a teenage girl with a very low attention span. Her nametag gave her name as Becky.

Lizzie began to approach the girl, but stopped, having just put two and two together. Like Casey, Lizzie had spent years studying languages, becoming a master of the English language. One of the first lessons she ever learned is that the masculine pronoun is generally used as a default when an English-speaking person is unsure of the gender of another person when speaking about them. Christopher was no exception as he used the masculine pronoun when speaking of the unknown person who sent them both the threatening e-mails. So why did he use the feminine pronoun when referring to the cashier?

The answer was obvious, but Lizzie had little choice over the matter. Christopher was waiting for his opportunity and ruining his chances could prove illicit for both of them. Still, Christopher had proven himself unworthy of Lizzie's trust and she wasn't going to let him get away with that.

"Becky, right?"

"Can't you read the name tag?"

"Right. Anyways, My husband was considering painting the bathroom walls a nice goldenrod."

"We have yellow. If you want fancy hues, go to Home Depot."

"Yellow will do," Lizzie said with the biggest fake smile she had ever given in her life. Becky begrudgingly picked herself off the counter and left the front desk, taking Lizzie to the back of the store where the paints were. Christopher ran to the back room, carelessly left unlocked by Becky.

Christopher took out a lighter. The minute flame hardly illuminated anything, but it gave enough light for Christopher to find exactly what he and Lizzie needed: the work schedule. Lizzie and Christopher could easily attack the Kirby family when they are separated. Christopher continued to thumb through the files until finding another folder labeled "Pay Stubs". Christopher took one sheet out the folder, folded it into his pocket, and slipped out of the room unnoticed, even by Lizzie, whom he left to continue her boring conversation with Becky.

* * *

Casey barely slept a wink that night. He would tell the other villagers it was because he was busy thinking of ways to investigate their inner workings, but it was really because they hard slab of stone they gave to him and called a "bad" wasn't the nice and fluffy mattress he was used to. Not having a watch, Casey had to guess it was at least ten o'clock when he awoke.

"I didn't think you would sleep in so late," Seina teased. "It's almost noon. Casey was irked at being two hours off, but was relived to know he didn't tell anyone his guess, for then his shame and idiocy would then be public knowledge. "Sorskind has already left on patrol so you won't be able to get any information from him until he returns tonight."

"Actually, you're the exact person I wanted to see."

"I already told you," Seina replied, packing some light provisions as she talked. Seina was clearly getting ready to head out on patrol as well. "I'm not going to help you investigate Benjamin Hildebrand's possible murder. That is a problem best kept to the authorities."

"Good idea," Casey replied sarcastically as he whipped out the camcorder. "Maybe I can bring the army, too? I have connections. And how about I lead them right here so we can all join the party?" Seina ignored him. "Seina, forgive me. I have a habit of going overboard with sarcasm. I want to go out on patrol with you."

"Me? Why?"

"It doesn't have to be you. I'm just more comfortable with you. The reason why is because I'm intrigued by this village. By all indications of modern sociology, this society shouldn't be able to work and yet it does. I have to live the Sornian experience in order to figure out how."

"You're curiosity both intrigues and annoys me, Casey. I'm scheduled to patrol the West Bank today. Let's go."

Casey recorded the noontime rituals the villagers had. They were mostly what Casey expected from a mostly agricultural society. The one difference Casey recorded was the an equal number of men and women were preparing the meals for that afternoon, meaning an equal number of men and women were out hunting and patrolling as Casey had counted a fairly even number when he first arrived. Equality was not lost when they started the pastoral society.

Finally, Seina was ready to go out, equipped with a knife a quiver of arrows with a bow across her shoulders. She didn't have the bow and arrows the day before. Casey recorded the difference in equipment, making a mental note to ask Seina about it later.

Seina personally hugged and kissed all of the villagers before she was ready to leave. Death was clearly a possibility even for the villagers; many of who have had a lifetime of experience protecting them. Casey put the notepad away turned to the entrance as Seina passed beside him. Casey was clearly expected to keep up. "How far is the West Bank?"

"Not far," Seina replied. "We can take the short cut through the birdcage, but it'll be a waste of time. A fence blocks the only visible entrance. Most people aren't going to waste time trying to find a hole in the fence, so we take the long way."

The two began their journey down the steep hill leading to the village until they arrived on the trail that existed back when InGen still owned the island. After only a minute of walking, Casey felt compelled to asked the question. "You have a bow and arrow today. You didn't have it yesterday. My first theory is that since you were patrolling a different area yesterday, you would have different equipment. For some reason, you only want to take what's necessary, so you want to protect yourself from the dinosaurs."

"You're right," Seina replied, "but I'm surprise you ask. Don't you normally just jot this down?"

"I do, but I have no way to test that theory. I would need to know all types of dinosaurs living on the island, where they live, and the best way to protect yourself from them. I would then be able to connect the right kind of weapon to the dinosaur. However, I wanted to real Eric Kirby experience, so I came here with the minimal dinosaur knowledge I already had."

"You do not care about your own well-being," Seina laughed. There was a short pause before she continued. "The bow and arrows would not have served me well yesterday. Raptors like to ambush around that area and I wouldn't have time to aim and shoot. If you're not quick with a knife and a rope, you die."

"And here?"

"Its mostly herbivorous dinosaurs in this area. The only real threat are rampaging Triceratops, and they only attack if you get in their territory and even then they take a long time to charge. A well-placed arrow will make it fall. It's probably won't kill it, but it'll back down and so will the rest of the pack. The one that charges is generally the alpha male, you see."

"So there aren't any carnivores here?"

"Other than the compies that inhabit the entire island, no there isn't. I'd like to say this where we find most survivors, but castaways generally find themselves on in T-Rex or Velociraptor territory. Sixty percent of time, you won't find anything on patrol. Only ten percent of the time will we find someone."

"I may not be so great at math, but sixty plus ten does not equal one-hundred. What about the other thirty percent." Seina suddenly stopped walking, now with a sullen look on her face. Casey turned to see that she was staring at the other thirty percent.

"He hasn't been dead for more than a day." The man on the ground looked to be around his late twenties wearing a Hawaiian shirt khaki colored jeans. "The injuries he sustained looks like he got caught in the stegosaurs' territory. Chances are it was like night, which put him at a disadvantage as he could not see where he was going." Seina bent down and began moving the dead man's legs. "He broke his leg running and the compies finished him off."

"That doesn't make sense," Casey replied. "Compies are pack hunters. Why would they leave a fresh carcass on the ground, full of meat, when they know that there aren't any other carnivores to ruin their fun?" Seina didn't even acknowledge Casey had said something this time as she continued to walk forward. "Aren't you at least going to bury him?"

"Are you? We still have to patrol and if the compies fill up on him, they won't feel the need to attack us." Casey rolled his eyes and left the body of the man to continued to decompose.

Time continued to pass as Casey continued to record what he saw around him and, more importantly, how Seina reacted to it. Every time Casey heard a crack in the woods, Casey would flinch, even if it turned out to be harmless. Seina only flinched once, and that was for a group of compies that she scared off by throwing her knife into the ground near the group.

Another crack came from the words and Casey decided to fake bravery by ignoring him impulse to flinch. However, Seina didn't just flinch. She stopped dead in her tracks and took out her knife and stood in a defensive stance. Another crack came from the woods.

"Run!" Seina grabbed Casey by the arm and they began to run back to where they came from. Casey looked back to see a raptor jumping out of the woods and begin to chase the group. Seina made a sharp turn into another group of tress, easily avoiding the thorns and branches while Casey while Casey failed to dodge any of them. The two exited the trees and were now in a field with triceratops grazing over by a lake to their left not far away. Casey glanced back to see that three raptors were now on their trail.

Seina began to slow down in order to grabbed an arrow and place it in the bow. "I thought you said raptors were too fast for the bow and arrow."

"They are. Triceratopses aren't. If we're going to escape, we need to initiate a stampede." Seina let go of the arrow and watched as it soared in the air and right in one of the legs of the triceratopses. Seina didn't look satisfied and launched another arrow, this one landing in between two triceratopses. Seina didn't have much room left between her and the raptors. This was her last chance. Launching another one, this one landed far beyond the visible triceratopses and landed between the adults and the lake, where the babies were hiding.

Now the triceratopses were infuriated and began to charge the group. "Now we go this way," Seina suggested as they made another sharp turn away from the triceratopses. The two soon found themselves engulfed by the dinosaurs, but so did the raptors. Seina and Casey skillfully evaded the triceratopses and soon enough, the raptors began attacking them. Seina and Casey took their chance to jump out of the stampede and into another group of trees.

"I thought you said raptors don't generally leave their home. This is virtually the other side of the island," Casey yelled as they continued to run back to the village.

"They don't, or at least they shouldn't. Something caused them to leave their home. I can't say if it's good or bad, but I can say it warrant investigation."

"Sorry. I'm not interested in little forest creatures losing their homes."

"You might be, because if I'm right, this has Sorskind and Benjamin Hildebrand's fingerprints all over it."


	8. Patterns

Chapter 8: Patterns

The journey back to the village was long and painful for both Casey and Seina. Casey jotted down the difficulty Seina had in navigating this new path back to the village in his notepad. "I take this has never happened before," he started as Seina jumped through the trees and back onto the familiar path that led up the hill to the village. "You've never taken this path before because the raptors have never invaded the path before."

"You ask as if you care." Seina didn't turn around as she replied. She continued to drudge up the cliff to the village entrance, where the other villagers were visually stunned to see Seina back so early. Most of them sent their accusing glares right at Casey, who simply shrugged them off.

Seina came to the center of village to present a speech. The other villagers surrounded her as Casey whipped out the camera. "The balance of nature we have all come to understand and live by is somehow being threatened." Seina stopped as murmurs began amongst the villagers. As they quieted down, she continued, "Without any reason, the velociraptor seem to have invaded to Triceratops breeding ground, lands that had never seen velociraptor since InGen created the creatures."

The murmurs amongst the villagers started again, this time the volume has louder. "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know," Seina replied.

"I know!" another villager accused. "It's that boy over there with the video camera. He is damaging the delicate ecosystem of this island. We will perish if we continue to house that boy. How long is he going to stay?"

"I head he wasn't going to be missed back home for at least a month!" another villager accused.

Seina quieted the crowd down to continue her speech. "Yes, it is true that Casey Innes will not be searched for until two months have passed. However, there is no evidence that indicated that Casey is responsible for the velociraptor invasion of the triceratops land, especially as he hasn't once stepped foot on velociraptor territory."

"Then who to you suggest we blame?"

"We blame no one until we have gathered enough evidence to place blame on anyone, and more importantly, find out if this chance could bring disastrous results to our village." The villagers dispersed; disappointed with the outcome of the speech Seina gave.

Casey put the camcorder away and approached Seina. "You mentioned that this is probably Sorskind and Ben Hildebrand's fault. I hope you know by know that you can't get away with telling me something like that and then not tell me the rest of it."

"Find, I will tell you, but only because I don't want Sorskind to tell you his lies before I can tell you what I know as truth."

_Flashback_

_It had been five hours since Seina had returned to the village with the distraught Eric Kirby. He wasn't talking to anyone and was scared of the children who continuously asked to him to play with them. He hadn't said a word to Seina after telling him his name when she rescued him._

"_You need to relax," Seina suggested as she sat down next to him as he watched the other children play soccer. "Until a rescue team is sent here, you should just get yourself accustomed to living here in the village. It's not so bad." Eric still refused to reply. "You didn't come alone, did you?"_

_Eric shook his head. "His name is Ben. He's my mom's boyfriend. I would have told you about him, but he told me to run and not to look back."_

_Eric tilted his head down and Seina picked it back up. "I will send someone to look for Ben immediately. You shouldn't worry about things if you don't know if they're true."_

"_Especially when there is living proof standing right over here." Eric looked up to see who had completed Seina's sentence. "Ben!" Eric hopped up and ran over to Ben, jump in his arms and causing him to topple over._

"_I wouldn't get accustomed to doing that to much, Mr. Hildebrand," Sorskind suggested. Seina just realized that he was come in with Ben. "Your broken bones won't heal as quickly if you continue to allow them to get broken."_

"_How long ago did you find Mr. Hildebrand, Sorskind?"_

"_Fifteen minutes ago," he replied. Seina tried to read his for signs of lying, but Sorskind was airtight and new how to evade a human lie detector. "I came right back after find him just like I'm supposed to do."_

"_You're lying," Seina accused. "Eric Kirby landed near the coast just inside raptor territory about five hours ago. He also told me that Ben was tangled in the ropes in such a way that he wouldn't be able to get out without struggling. The raptors would have found him in five hours."_

"_So we took the scenic route. Do you have a problem with that?"_

"_I have a problem with you, and it seems that I'm going to have a problem with Ben Hildebrand as well if he's going to back-up your lies."_

"_Don't worry Seina," Eric interrupted. The new smile on Eric face brought a smile to Seina's. "I've know Ben for a couple of months. He's no one you should be suspicious of, even if he makes friends with people like Sorskind."_

"_He has friends like Sorskind back on the mainland?"_

"_For what you've told me," Eric replied. "His brother and his best friend from high school are both serving ten years for drug trafficking. Another of his friends is in for armed robbery."_

"_Yes!" Ben interrupted with a false excitement in his voice. "They may not be the smartest of people, but the important thing to note would be that I did not follow in their path and that is why I am worthy of the Kirby's trust and I hope you can trust me the same."_

"_Sorry," Seina replied rudely. "Anyone who Sorskind trusts is no friend of mine."_

Daylight hit the skies of Enid, Oklahoma as the sun was already high up in the sky over Isla Sorna. Christopher Dolen had decided to skip out on Lizzie the day before and she was left with no more information than she had. At least with Christopher gone, the unneeded intrusion was no longer to be contended with. The original plan of getting the facts was back on.

Lizzie awoke in the cheap motel room, feeling groggy from the late night before. There were two messages on her cell phone and she didn't feel like checking either of them. Lizzie sighed and reluctantly opened the phone and pressed the button to initiate the voicemail. She deleted the first one immediately after hearing the voice of her husband. She told him that she would be busy for the next two moths. Why does be other to call?

The second message was more intriguing. "Mrs. Bonner-Davis? Hello. This is Arden McAllister from the United States State Department. I understand that you were asking for a conversation with Mark Degler. Mr. Degler send his apologies for not being able to return your call yesterday, but will be available for a phone conference anywhere between noon and 2:00 P.M. He says he's very interested in speaking with you."

Lizzie was shocked to get a response so soon, but couldn't express it for still being too sleepy. "What's the plan for today? I still have to find some friends of the Kirby family and find out if the Kirby's ever mentioned anything to them. Ugh. Then I still have that call to Mark Degler to find out if the Marines found anything during their search. Is there anyone else I still have to interview? Not without getting arrested. I'll leave any interview with the Kirby family for the end." Lizzie glanced at the clock. "Ugh. It's not even 8:00 yet. One more hour."

Casey was a good judge of time passed. He guessed it was about 4:30 P.M. He was only of by ten minutes. The last four hours were spent learning more of the Sornian language. He already knew that most of the villagers came from European counties with a Romance Language and the way of conjugating words were in the same method. Figuring out those words was all up to guessing and checking.

Casey though of it like the cryptograms he always did in the newspaper. He guessed the most commonly heard verb as the most likely word he would hear in a pastoral society. He combined it with a guess that made sense with all the nouns in the same sentence. He wrote down all the possibilities and then heard another sentence that used the same verb with a different noun. He would write all the possibilities next to it. After a while of hearing about five different sets of verbs and nouns, the hard part began.

Casey had to organize the words in a chart. Across the top were different stipulations related to the time the word was spoken, like the gender of the person who said it, the age of the person, the time of day it was, the location of the person in the village, where the person was in the village, what the person was doing, the person expression on his or her face, the person's tone of voice, and to whom the person was talking to. In total, each of the verbs was spoken fifteen time and the nouns were each spoken twelve.

"That is quite a chart," a little girl pointed out as she loomed over Casey's shoulder. Casey finished drawing the immaculate line before replied to the girl. "It should be. This chart is imposing and the single hardest part in this mission, but learning Sornian will become a breeze after I spend about two days on this."

"I could teach you, if you want."

"No offence, but I don't trust you to teach me correctly. Some of the world's greatest and most important information has been lost due to faulty translations. Take the Bible for example. Despite my careful questioning of everything around me, I am still an ardent Christian and make a point to go to mass every Sunday. Most people who 'question everything around them' wind up becoming atheists because of the contradictions in the Bible, which contradicts a line in the Book of Romans that states that the Bible is infallible. It was at one point, but the repeated over translation for one language to another have corrupted and destroyed the most important book in history."

"A good example is a chapter found in the Book of Mark after Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. The original transcripts, or at least the oldest we have, say that Mary Magdalene clinged to him, but the King James Version states that she only touched him. The culprit is bad translating."

Casey stopped his explanation. It was clear by the look on the girls' face that she wasn't following anything he was saying. "You're confusing her," Seina said as she pulled Casey up. "Living in a pastoral society, I figured you would have guessed that we have a written language different than English and so she's never actually read the Bible."

"But you have—wait. Did you say written language? Another day another challenge. I'm always up for a good cryptogram."

"Never mind that right now," Seina ordered. "As much as I dislike have to talk to you, I hate it more watching you disrupt our village. So I want you to know that I am making a personal sacrifice by asking you to come with me."

"Where?"

"Sorskind was supposed to return about half an hour ago. The late return of a villager could be a attributed to any number of things including an injury, having found someone who is unable to move him or her self, or a radical change of dinosaur movements that prevent him or her from getting back to the village--"

"You do know I'm not actually listening to this part, right? Seina only gave him a disappointed look before rolling her eyes. "The point is, if a villager is out for half an hour more than they should, we send two people to search, and you're coming with me. Before you ask, Sorskind's lateness may have something to do with the irregular hunting patterns exhibited by the raptors earlier today, and I know you'd be lying if you said you weren't the least bit interested."

Casey took a deep breathe before cracking his knuckles and replying. "All right. Fine. Let's go."


	9. Fashionably Late

Chapter 9: Fashionably Late

Lizzie figured she had put off the investigation long enough. It was getting close to noon and she hadn't done anything she planned for that day. Out of fairness, she had scrapped all of her original plans when Christopher Dolen arrived, but he hadn't returned ever since he slipped away after the West Gate robbery.

Lizzie reverted to her original plan. With Mark Degler's schedule still completely booked for another two hours, she decided to call Casey to check up on his progress. "Well, how's it going with the village? Are you making new friends?"

"Just as many as I have on the mainland," Casey replied sarcastically. The ironic part of the sentence is that it was actually true. "I came back from patrol with one of the villagers. Now another villager hasn't returned from his patrol and it may have something to do with velociraptor's irregular hunting patterns."

"Never would have pegged you as one to drop an investigation to help rescue someone in danger."

"The humanitarian aspect of this rescue mission is solely an added prize, icing on the cake if you will. The missing villager is one of the few people to have had contact with Benjamin Hildebrand."

"It's like you don't even care about Eric Kirby anymore."

"That investigation is over," Casey explained. "We know how he survived. He hung out at the village for two months. It's your job to get proof from that side of the world to collaborate my story when I return. In the meantime, the death of Benjamin Hildebrand could prove just as interesting as Eric Kirby's survival."

"Would you look at that?" Christopher Dolen's piercing voice was matched solely by his ominous shadow he casted over Lizzie through the car window. "You see, I thought we were doing this investigation together, but now I see you talking with someone over the headset, about to drive off to the next part of the mission without me. Hey, is that Casey Innes? Hey Casey! Hi! I'm Christopher! Nice to finally talk to you. It's too bad we can't talk in person because Lizzie won't tell me where you are."

"He already turned it off," Lizzie explained. "On another subject, give me one good reason why I should put any trust in you. You been to Paint and Tile Plus before, haven't you? That's why you used the feminine pronoun to describe the cashier before even looking at her. You knew who it was. That's why you wouldn't change plan. The cashier knows you. You didn't want her to see you. So what is it? Did you used to work at Paint and Tile Plus? Did Paul Kirby catch you steal money from the register and now you want revenge because he fired you?"

"That's a lot of questions," he observed. "Honestly, you have no reason to trust me. You don't have to trust me. The fat of the matter is, you need me. You don't even know how Eric Kirby survived."

"Actually, I do. Casey figured it out."

"Really? How."

"Need to know basis."

"I need to know!"

"If you're going to help, get in the car. If you're just going to stand there and complain, you can go bother some other chump. Okay?" Christopher slinked into the passenger seat as Lizzie put the car in drive and sped off.

* * *

Seina and Casey proceeded to walk east after exited the village. Casey glanced back the village to see smiles grow on many faces as he left the village. He could tell most of them hoped he wouldn't come back. Seina kept her eyes straight and her knife well in hand. She seemed more cautious than usual.

"You know," Casey began, "in all the excitement, I forgot to ask. What area was Sorskind patrolling today?"

"Velociraptor territory."

"Of course he was. On the bright side, the raptors seem to have invaded everywhere else. Maybe there aren't any left in their own territory."

"What could scare a raptor? What could possibly force a velociraptor out of its home? I certainly do not want to encounter that creature. Do you?"

"You still haven't told me the possible connection to Hildebrand and the raptor's sudden change in hunting grounds."

"This isn't the first time he's come late from patrolling raptor territory."

_Flashback_

_It had been half an hour since Sorskind should have been back from his patrol. Despite misgiving from the village, Ben Hildebrand insisted on venturing out on patrol with Sorskind. His arm was still broken and his fractured ribs would make it hard to run if they were ambushed. Eric pleaded with Ben to stay, but he assured everyone in the village that he would be safe. Ben had a way with words, but now everyone now doubted those exact words._

"_Tomaj," Seina called to another villager. Tomaj was a young man with scratched-up glasses and short black hair. Seina randomly picked him to join her in searching for Sorskind. "Come on. Grab the quiver and let's go."_

"_Must we?" he whined. "I don't even like Sorskind."_

"_Your personal feelings for the man must be put aside. He is still a member of this village." Tomaj sighed and grabbed the quiver before following Seina out of the village._

_They traveled the familiar path that led to the raptor's territory safely. The territory was essentially divided into three parts. The first was the dens brush that surrounded it. This area was remotely safe as long as the raptors weren't feeling like taking a stroll. Beyond that was an open field nicknamed Harding's Field. Chief veterinarian Gerry Harding spent a lot of time in the field before the incident. Anyone who goes too far into the field was liable to be killed instantly. At the end of the field was the raptor's den. The hole in the side of the mountain was undoubtedly the worst place on the island. The area was pitch dark. Even the most skilled fighter would not stand a chance against twenty raptors, especially with little to no vision._

_Tomaj rested against a tree. Seina did the same with another tree. Just beyond the group of trees in front of them was Harding's Field. "Do you hear anything?" Seina asked._

"_A lot of things," Tomaj replied. "Birds. Compies. Bugs. No Sorskind and surprisingly, no raptors either." Tomaj had the best hearing in the village, but Seina had a hard time believing Tomaj couldn't here any raptors. They were only step away from their home. "Where could they be?"_

_Tomaj left the safely on the tree and began to walk to the other group of trees that separated them from Harding's Field. Seina held her breath as Tomaj pushed the branches apart. Tomaj felt a force push him backwards and Seina instinctually drew her knife. She put it away and sighed with relief. It was Sorskind coming through the trees._

"_It's just you."_

"_You say that like you were expecting some else."_

"_Wait a minute. Did you just come from Harding's Field? Don't you know how dangerous that is?"_

"_Apparently not. I'm safe, aren't I?"_

"_Why were you out there?"_

"_Patrolling."_

"_Where's Hildebrand?"_

"_Over here," Ben's voice said. He was coming out through another group of trees that also led out into Harding's Field. "I'm fine. Sorskind knows what he's doing."_

"_No he doesn't," Seina corrected, "and the fact that you think he does proves that you're no better than him."_

_End Flashback_

"Don't you think you were just a little too hard on Benjamin Hildebrand?" Casey asked. "So he had a bad teacher. Does that make him immediately as bad as the teacher? It's not his fault he was taught incorrectly."

Seina ignored Casey's question and put he back against a tree. Casey remembered Seina's story and put back against a nearby tree like Tomaj. "Don't ask me if I can hear anything."

"I wasn't going to," she plied. Seina got up from the tree and approached the group of trees. Casey did the same. She slowly pulled the trees apart. The field was completely empty. "Nothing. Something is scaring them away from their established habitat. Wait. There's one exiting the den right now. I guess it's still livable."

Casey ignored Seina's assumption and pulled out his camera. One sole raptor didn't make sense to him. He pressed the zoom button as far as it could possibly magnify. "That's not a velociraptor," Casey said as the image disappeared before the side of the mountain."

"Of course not," she replied. "That's Sorskind. Casey put the camera away and followed Seina back the way they came. "Aren't we going to go after him? I mean that is the reason we came out here in the first place, right. I would hate to come back empty-handed after promising a rescue."

"Sorskind has ventured into a part of the island forbidden by the village. His own safety is his alone to guard. I am not about to put the lives of other villagers in danger because he wants to be a thrill seeker. We're going back. The best you can do is to pray for his safety."

"No, the best I can do is ignore you and go out there myself." Casey stopped following Seina and began to run at breakneck speed back from where he came from.

* * *

"We're taking a detour," Lizzie explained. "How much do you know about the incident last year involving the Kirbys?"

Their son Eric went to the island with Mrs. Kirby's boyfriend. He died, but Eric managed to survive for two months until the rescue team came. But Eric wasn't alone. We know that. The Kirby's are hiding some hidden secret about the island."

"There's something else," Lizzie interrupted. "The autopsy report claims that Benjamin Hildebrand died of his injuries soon after landing and was slowly picked off by velociraptors and compies. Casey says that was a lie. Ben Hildebrand survived just as long as Eric did on the island."

"How do you know this?"

"I could ask you the same question. You seem to be aware of a lot more than an average investigator. Be honest. How much do you really know?"

"I know about the village!" Christopher finally admitted. "You're right. I was fired from Paint and Tile Plus. I was assistant manager. But I wasn't stealing money. I overheard a conversation between Paul and Amanda. They were discussing the village. I tried to blackmail them with the information to get the regular stuff: a raise, a promotion, paid vacation, but Paul was tough. I got fired instead."

"So you're just working the revenge angle. You know about the village, but you don't have proof. That's what you need me for. Is that the whole truth?"

"Absolutely. Now, how about you? How do you know about the village?"

"Casey has connections."

"What kind? Where? The only way Casey could possibly know about the village were for him to actually venture to Isla Sorna himself. He's not that stupid, is he?"

"Of course not. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's a little passed 12:00. Mark Degler should be awaiting my call." Lizzie pulled her cell phone out. She proved herself to be just as bad of a driver as Casey when she's distracted. Christopher clenched the chair as she finished dialing. "Federal State Department. How may I direct your call?"

"Hello. My name is Elizabeth Bonner-Davis. Mark Degler should be expecting a call from me."

"I'm sorry," the receptionist said, "Mr. Degler received urgent business to attend to earlier this morning. If you would hold for a few minutes, I can pull up his schedule and find when he'll be next available."

"No!" Lizzie yelled. "I'm not going to wait for that. Some woman named Arden McAllister told me to call now. She promised me a one-on-one conversation with Mark Degler!"

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Would you like me to put her on the phone?"

"Please! I'd like to give her and her pantsuit a piece of my mind!"

"Please hold."

"Hang up the phone," Christopher finally spoke up with a shocked and worried look on his face. Lizzie didn't response. Christopher grunted and pried the phone away from her hands and hung up the phone himself. Amidst Lizzie complaints, Christopher reached the brake pedal with his leg and stepped out of the car. He placed the cell phone in the grass alongside the road and returned to the passenger seat.

"What the hell was that?"

"They were tracing the call. They know what we're doing"

"That proves Mark Degler knows about the village."

"Regardless, it's made our job that much harder."


End file.
